Landing at Mafia Island, was quite an experience. For a start I could actually see the runway over the Captain's shoulder and from what little I know, it looked like an excellent landing! Very straight and no bouncing, which was just was needed given the state of my nerves.
The tiny little step ladders came down. One for the pilot, one for Linda, occupying the co-pilot's seat and one at the back for the rest of us.
I was last off and the whole process took less than a minute.
The luggage was already sitting inside the little room that serves as a terminal and it was straight outside into the sunshine.
No security checks, no paperwork, just warm smiles from the handful of people waiting with signs, to meet their guests.
I found my name on one immediately and double checked that I had the right person to take me to Mafia Island Lodge.
I asked if I had time for a cigarette before we set off and the young man said that was ok because he had to find some boxes.
Later, chatting to the lovely Iris who runs Mafia Island lodge with her husband Guiliano, I found out that absolutely everything has to come from Dar and they were eagerly awaiting their new Lavazza coffee machine. That was what was in the boxes.
After some phone calls and a lot of searching, it was established the boxes hadn't arrived and with huge apologies for keeping me waiting, we set off.
I really didn't mind the small wait. It gave me time to relax, smoke a bit and just take in my surroundings.
The first thing that hits you is how Green it is. There are huge coconut palms and gorgeous trees, shrubs and plants everywhere. It has a relaxed feel about it and everyone smiles - all the time.
My driver told me it would only about 20 minutes to get to the other side of the island and we would be making a stop at the entrance to the Marine Park for me to sign in and make the required payment.
I was vaguely aware that if you were staying at one of the accommodation options that actually sits inside the Marine Park area, there would be an extra payment, but for some completely bizarre reason, I'd got it into my head that was included in the hotel price.
Not so; that important bit of information was made perfectly clear in the description of the the lodge, I just hadn't read it properly.
After clarifying that I would have to make the payment on the spot, I double checked that cards were acceptable and my young driver smiled and nodded.
We pulled up at the gate and I felt a bit like I was back on Safari, but this time without a Deo to do the necessary paperwork.
As I approached the 2 gentlemen behind the desk clutching my passport and booking confirmation, it was clear that a large, rather noisy group that had been on the plane, had already begun the process and were taking their own sweet time.
Nevertheless these marine park officials are professionals and able to multi task, so were keen to "process" me at the same time.
I started filling in my form but kept getting distracted by the amount of fuss being made and lengthy discussions going on next to me. It was only a form for goodness sake.
Then came the really cringeworthy bit. You have to state whether you are a Tanzanian national or not because the charge is different, ( perfectly reasonable if you ask me).
The man completing the form on the group's behalf stopped and said " so do you have different rates for different colours - Black, White, Chinese?".
I heard a sharp intake of breath in the stoney silence that followed ( actually that was probably me), the official gave him a long, cold stare and very slowly said, " We do not make any distinction based on the colour of people's skin, only whether they are a national or not".
The man tried to laugh it off, but he had been firmly put in his place. I was so embarrassed and these people were nothing to do with me.
After that, the 2 officials concentrated on getting my payment and permit done and the others just had to wait.
I had overheard that they were also staying at the lodge, so after that little bit of drama, I was keen to get there before them.
We finally arrived at a little road surrounded by trees, passed through a gate manned by Masai and drew up outside the beautiful main building.
Zubeda, the lovely young receptionist, full of smiles and welcome, ran out to greet me and showed me into the lounge.
She presented me with a lovely coconut drink (in a hollowed out coconut shell, surrounded by flowers) and explained that we just had to wait for some more guests and then there would be a short welcome briefing.
Well I knew that if these guests were the ones I'd already encountered, we might be in for a long wait, but didn't want to dampen her enthusiasm, so sat down with my delicious welcome drink and took in my surroundings.
This beautiful area, was unlike any "hotel lounge" I'd ever encountered. With it's high, palm thatched ceiling, huge round rustic lights, furniture covered in brightly coloured prints and being open on 3 sides, it was light, airy and immediately became my favourite place to sit and relax. (Especially since the wifi was only available here).
The other guests arrived eventually, (you could hear them coming a mile off) but instead of sitting down in the lounge for the welcome chat, as asked, they all wandered off in different directions.
Zubeda did her best to gather them together, but in the end realised she was fighting a losing battle and so just sat down with me.
She explained all about the meal times, the al la carte & snack menu that was available all day, the table with free tea and coffee available 24/7, the beach bar, the diving centre and stressed that if I needed anything, I only had to ask.
I think she has been very well trained, but her natural enthusiasm and exuberance made this whole experience delightful.
As she had been unable to gather all the new arrivals together, (definitely not for the want of trying), help had arrived in the form of Iris ( one of the managers) so that the "welcome" briefing could be completed and we could all be shown to our rooms.
Iris quickly realised I was the only one actually doing what had been asked and so decided to show me to my room personally.
She explained that they had only been managing the lodge for a short time and were in the process of upgrading and renovating the rooms and facilities. I had booked a special deal through Expedia, so was in one of the standard rooms, yet to receive a makeover.
"it's not modern", she explained, "but I think it has everything you need and if not, please ask". Her description was right on point, but it was larger than I expected,
perfectly clean, had plenty of storage and best of all had a little terrace with a lovely view of the gardens and the sea.
It also had a very efficient ceiling fan and air conditioning, but Iris explained that when the island electricity supply went off ( as it did when there were a lot of visitors ) they would switch to their own generator which wouldn’t power the air con.
That was fine. My electricity cuts out all the time in Spain, so I assured her it wouldn’t be a problem
I had packed my suitcase 10 days ago and had been pretty much living out of it for the last 7 days, so was keen to get everything out and hung up. As I thought, all my nice summery beachy stuff was creased to buggery, but having spent time in hot humid climates on previous trips, I felt sure that the atmosphere would do it’s thing and sort the problem for me.
I was right and by the time it came to change for dinner, everything looked as if I’d spent hours slaving over a hot ironing board.
After a very welcome shower and change of clothes, I made my way to the main building for dinner. I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast, so was starving, but what I was most in need of was a nice glass of wine.
Wine all over Tanzania is quite expensive. If you are from New Zealand, you would probably think it’s cheap, but of course it’s all relative and compared to Spanish prices, the cost of a bottle made my eyes water a bit.
I was a bit early for dinner and so decided to relax in the lounge with my wine. Fortunately as the building was a kind of open structure and there were ashtrays on every table, I was able to enjoy a cigarette, sitting down, with my drink of choice. The smokers ( and ex smokers) amongst you will appreciate the difference this makes to your ability to relax.
No leaping up and dashing outside for a cigarette every few minutes - and the lounge was big, with plenty of seating, so the non smokers could breathe easy knowing they were not being polluted by our disgusting habit.
I was approached by a young man wearing a Mafia Island Diving teeshirt, who introduced himself as Peter.
Members of the team, come up to the lounge every evening to meet the guests and explain what trips and excursions are available.
If you have read my Maldives blog, you will already know about my two previous futile efforts to learn to dive. So despite that wicked little voice in my head telling me to “go on - have another try, it might be different this time”, I was able to block it out and tell Peter I was interested in snorkelling as much possible and the swimming with Whale sharks trip.
Having established that I wanted to spend the whole of the next day doing absolutely nothing, he suggested I pop down to the centre at some point to book some trips.
So with that sorted, I made my way into dinner.
Every evening there were at least 3 courses with plenty of choice and a small salad bar - all served buffet style.
Bearing in mind the size of the lodge ( 34 rooms), I think the amount of choice they provide is exceptional and I had already been assured by Iris, that if there was nothing on the menu suitable for me ( being a non meat eater) they would make me something else.
After my lovely dinner and far too much of my bottle of wine, I made my way to my room, fought my way through the mosquito nets, and had a great night’s sleep.
I woke up very very early, but dawn was already breaking, so decided to walk down to the beach.
There was a nice beach bar, and a few wooden sun-beds dotted around, all under thatched canopies or parasols (no horrible plastic here). I was sincerely hoping there wouldn't be the usual scramble for sun beds with towels being placed on them at sunrise, left in place all day and only actually being used for about thirty minutes.
As the days went by, I realised that most of the guests are divers, snorkelers or whale shark watchers and so the beach was mostly deserted.
I spotted the diving centre and resolved to visit a bit later and on my way back to the main lodge I found the beauty centre. Hmm, I might treat myself to a massage.
I was still a bit early for breakfast, but tea and coffee is available all day - you just have to help yourself.
So I did. I got a nice cup of tea, let all my family and friends know I had arrived safely and had a little catch up with what had being going on in the rest of the world.
After breakfast - another heaving buffet table offering fruit, cereals, pastries, rolls, pancakes, juice and a little sign offering eggs cooked to order any way you want them, I went back to what became my spot in the lounge.
And there I stayed for most of the morning - the wifi was playing nice so I thought it would be good to catch up with the blog a bit, especially as it was all still fresh in my memory.
Sitting there, enjoying the view of the garden, drinking coffee, ( having a fag or two) and writing about my safari, I felt as if I was in paradise.
Around lunchtime, I wandered down to the diving centre to plan out my weeks activities.
At this point, I should point out that I’m a little bit intimidated by dive centres. I didn’t have a great experience with the one on Roatan in Honduras and maybe it’s just me being over sensitive, but in the past, I have got the distinct impression that divers view snorkelling as being a bit second rate somehow.
The Mafia Island Dive centre could not be more different.
I met the very lovely Daniella, who took the time to explain the options for swimming with Whale sharks and told me all about the snorkelling trips on offer, with passion and enthusiasm.
I will go into these in a bit more detail in the posts to come, but after our chat, I felt I had all the information I needed to choose what was right for me, without any pressure to spend a load of money I didn’t have.
We agreed that she would try to book the Whale shark trip for me as soon as possible, (ideally the following day) so I had time to do it again if these wonderful creatures were munching on plankton elsewhere.
But in order for me to have the best experience possible, later on in the day, she would check a number of factors:-
1. The weather.
2. The amount of sharks that had been seen on that day’s trip.
3. How many other visitors were going. ( the fewer the better as far as I was concerned)
Then when they came up to the lodge that evening, they would let me know whether the trip was on and if not, would book me in for a snorkel instead.
Perfect!!
Feeling very happy that she ( and all the other people at the dive centre) had my best interests at heart and most definitely was not thinking “oh no - another bloody snorkeler taking our precious time and resources”, I wandered over to the beach bar to order some lunch.
The lovely ( also thatched) beach bar was manned by Milton & Amos, 2 great lads from the lodge.
I ordered a beer and a Caprese Sandwich which came with a massive plate of yummy chips.
Watching the dhows (wooden sailing boats) coming and going while I enjoyed my lunch, I was so happy I’d opted for this
remote, untouristy little island, instead of one of the more well known and therefore much busier islands off the coast of Tanzania.
The warm weather and the beer, coupled with my stressful day of travelling and waking up at 5.30, were all starting to take their toll. I could feel my eyes drooping, so headed back to my room for a much needed, little siesta.
I awoke a few hours later, showered, changed and even opted to put a bit of slap on for the first time since I’d left Spain.
I found my usual spot in the lounge, finished off the tiny amount of wine left from the previous evening, whipped out my Mac and phone and carried on recording my experiences for prosperity ( and for all you lovely readers who follow this blog).
The rather gorgeous Luke from the dive centre (If only I was 40 years younger) arrived and had been fully briefed on the long chat I’d had with Daniella.
Well this was promising.
In my experience ( and I suspect most people’s) even if you’ve had a lengthy conversation with one person in an organisation you always end up explaining everything again when you get passed to someone else.
But Luke (and presumably Daniella) had it all organised. They had decided that the following day’s Whale Shark trip wasn’t for me - simply because there was only one space left, which meant a full boat.
So they had arranged for me to snorkel instead. The boat would be leaving at 13.30, so please could I be at the centre at 13.00 to be fitted with fins and for a briefing.
I most certainly could and felt that little bubble of excitement, I always get when I’m about to visit a new underwater environment.
After another delicious dinner, some more wine (no shit sherlock) and another hour or so on my laptop, I was ready for bed.
24 hours in - and I was loving everything about Mafia Island.